Programs & Campaigns
We provide a safe space for queer youth & allies to learn about themselves, create performance art, develop leadership skills, explore the history of the LGBTQ movement, and stay healthy & well.
Health & Harm Reduction
At Out Now, we are committed to connecting with youth where they’re at and provide programs & strategies to improve their lives.
We hold sex ed and harm reduction education workshops in our office, at schools, community centers, and conferences. We believe in the multiplier model: As we teach others how to engage in positive health behaviors, we create peer educators who can do the same.
Safe Spaces Drop In
We have drop-in hours every Wednesday between 5-7 PM for all youth, whether it is a first time visit or a weekly chill session. We go all in to make this a safe space where queer youth & allies are heard & supported, and where we can build community, educate each other, and empower ourselves.
Youth Leadership
Out Now is committed to developing the leadership capacity of our youth – in our schools, communities, and beyond. Out Now is driven by youth leaders who mentor emerging youth leaders, who mentor up & coming leaders, and on it goes. Leadership skills are acquired through opportunities to organize, coordinate and speak at conferences, demonstrations, school presentations, and elsewhere where queer youth voices must be heard!
Queer Pride
Out Now is a founding partner of Springfield Pride, a grassroots group of volunteers dedicated to ensuring that the LGBTQ+ community and its allies are a visible and vital piece of the fabric of the greater Springfield area. Our youth leaders assist with event planning, coordination, community outreach and promotion. Then we show off our fabulous selves!
We also participate in local and regional Pride events in Northampton, Boston, and beyond.
QuEST
QuEST youth (QUeer Empowerment through Solidarity and Truth) are dedicated to educating ourselves & others about the intersections between queer youth and the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC). We believe that we must stop relying on incarceration as a way of solving problems and learn ways to resolve conflicts without revenge or violence. We consider all interlocking systems of the PIC to be profiting off the pain of people of color, poor people, queer people & other oppressed people. Our task is to dismantle this!